2015 Fruitful Year for Azerbaijani Gymnastics

Azerbaijani gymnastics had a very productive and fruitful year in 2015, as the country took home a total of 157 medals during that year.

Rhythmic gymnastics appeared to be the most successful sport, obtaining a total of 81 medals. Men’s artistic gymnastics comes second with 32 medals followed by acrobatic gymnastics who took home a total of 15 medals. Meanwhile, women’s artistic gymnastics scored 11 medals, and finally, trampoline gymnastics and aerobic gymnastics achieved a total of 9 medals each.

18-year-old Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnast Marina Durunda has become the most fruitful athlete in the country in 2015, ending the year with a total of 22 medals. Just one medal was in the account of her compatriot Zhala Piriyeva and a gymnast Oleg Stepko, who was the champion of the First European Games.

Without any doubt, the very first European Games, the Baku 2015 European Games, was the most meaningful competition of 2015.

Oleg Stepko was the first ever Azerbaijani gymnast to score five medals in a historical sport festival such as this. One of the medals he won was a gold medal on the parallel bars. Additionally, he won another medal in a team competition along with Eldar Safarov and Petro Pakhnyuk.

Azerbaijani’s Ilya Grishunin took home the bronze medal in the trampoline gymnastics event, while Marina Durunda achieved the silver medal with her ribbon performance in Rhythmic Gymnastics.

Overall, it seems like ribbon became Marina’s most valuable 'asset' in 2015. She earned bronze in a ribbon exercise under the “Fantasy” musical composition by a well-known composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli at the European Championships.

For the first time, the Azerbaijan acrobatic gymnasts successfully captured medals at the European Age Group Competitions. The men’s pair of Seymur Jafarov and Murad Akbarov grabbed the silver medal, while the mixed pair comprised of Aghasif Rahimov and Nurjan Jabbarli took home the bronze.

The year 2015 was made memorable by the debut of the national gymnasts on the world arena. Therefore, Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation brought its plan to completion regarding the development of gymnastics disciplines, and now, all seven gymnastics disciplines recognized by the FIG are being promoted in the country.

Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev presented a flat to a two-time Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships prize-winner, Gulzum Shafizada.

The Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation was recognized as the best federation and the National Gymnastics Arena, an iconic 9,000-seater facility designed to hold all seven gymnastics disciplines, was recognized as the best Arena by the Azerbaijan Youth and Sports Ministry.

Furthermore, the 6th General Assembly of the Azerbaijani Federation was held in Baku in December, where Azerbaijan’s First Lady, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva was re-elected as its president.

Altay Hasanov will now take in charge as the Vice-president, while Rauf Aliyev and Rafig Beybutov will maintain their positions as Executive Committee members. Mariana Vasileva was appointed as the new member of the Committee.

Currently, the Azerbaijan gymnasts are getting ready for 2016, which appears to be a tough year ahead. The athletes will compete in various international events such as the European and World Championships, and most significantly, Durunda and Stepko will fight for an Olympic medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

The Rhythmic Gymnastics athletes and Artistic gymnastics participants will still have a chance to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics as Baku will host three World Cup series including Artistic Gymnastics in February, Trampoline Gymnastics in March, and Rhythmic Gymnastics in July.

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China Takes Over the Odense World Trampoline Championships

China proved their dominance in the 2015 World Championships in Odense, Denmark after taking home the available World titles in Men’s and Women’s Individual Trampoline finals, allowing them to move forward to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next year.

Men’s Trampoline: Gao Lei dominated the World Championships

The 2016 Rio Summer Olympics is just nine months away from now, and the Trampoline Gymnastics has found its new prince – Gao Lei. He finally escaped the shadows of his teammates Dong Dong, the defending Olympic champion, and Tu Xiao, the former World Champion, as he claimed his first World individual title last Sunday, making himself the new Olympic favorite.

To prove her superiority in the sport, Gao had to defeat his compatriots first before being allowed to take on the world. At the World Championships in Odense, Gao had already won a major battle after surpassing his teammates, Dong and Tu, in the qualification rounds. In the individual event finals, the 23-year-old Chinese gymnast flawlessly performed a routine that comprises of six triple saltos, earning himself a World gold medal. 

After turning his third-place finish in the 2014 World Championships into a second-place finish this year, Belarusian gymnast Uladzilau Hancharou proved himself to be a worthy opponent for the Olympics next year. Hancharou, a 19-year old gymnast who will turn 20 tomorrow (December 2), finished just 0.035 points ahead of the bronze medalist Andrey Yudin. The battle for the world titles was very tight, with the fourth and fifth placer Masaki Ito and Dmitry Ushakov both less than half of a point behind the silver medalist Hancharou.

Women's Trampoline: Li Dan makes a podium comeback

China’s 27-year-old trampoline gymnast Li Dan has got through the highs and lows of a long international career and is once again a World Champion, five years after claiming her 2010 World Championships individual gold medal

The Chinese gymnast endured the pressure of having to perform last in the Women’s individual event finals, but still managed to execute a wonderful performance that showcased her remarkable talent, something she rarely does in an international competition. Li Dan’s magnificent and complicated routine was enough to surpass her teammate, Liu Lingling – the former World Champion – who executed a less complicated yet dazzling routine. 

Meanwhile, Belarusian gymnast Tatsiana Piatrenia kicked the reigning Olympic champion Rosannagh Maclennan out of the podium to win her first-ever individual World title since 12 years ago.

China’s Olympic Champions Dethroned

Neither Dong Dong, the Olympic Champion in the 2012 Summer Games nor He Wenna, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, has been able to make it past the semi-final round of the Odense Championships, which was a surprise for Chinese gymnast Dong, who has always been on top of the podium at every international competition since 2007.

Dong, considered as the most successful trampoline athlete since the legendary Olympic trampoline champion Alexander Moskalenko, was overshadowed by the remarkable displays of his younger teammates, who advanced to the two-per-country finals ahead of him.

Meanwhile, He Wenna, has failed to finish her performance after hitting the trampoline padding.

First countries qualify for the Rio Olympic Games

In the Men’s competition, Japan, Russia and China have successfully earned two Olympic places in Odense for the Rio Olympic Games next year, while Belarus and France earned one Olympic spot each. In the Women’s competition, China, Great Britain and Belarus each earned two Olympic berth for their country.

Numerous other countries will fight for an Olympic spot at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro next April. In total, 16 men and 16 women will participate in the Trampoline portion of the Olympic Games.

The biggest sporting event on the globe, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games will take place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on August 5-21, 2016. 

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Gymnasts To Take a Huge Leap Towards Olympics

There is less than 9 months left before the 2016 Rio Olympics finally starts, and the top Trampoline gymnasts from all over the world are getting ready to take a huge leap to finally reach their Olympic dreams at the 31st World Trampoline Gymnastics Championships in Odense, Denmark this Thursday.

This year’s edition of the Trampoline Championships will serve as a qualifying event for next year’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Top eight gymnasts will automatically qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games, while those who will make it to the top 16 will get a second chance to secure a berth at the Olympic Test Event in Rio next April.

Aside from Trampoline, which has been a part of the Olympic program since the year 2000, World titles in Synchronized Trampoline, Double-mini Trampoline and Tumbling can also be earned at the World Championships in Odense. In addition, the gymnasts who will participate in these three disciplines will also get a chance to qualify for the World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland – the “Olympics for non-Olympic disciplines”.

Return of the Olympic champions

Three Olympic champions will make an appearance in Odense to compete against the World’s top Trampoline gymnasts. Dong dong, a Chinese Trampoline gymnast, was a three-time World gold-medalist (2009, 2010 and 2013) and an Olympic Champion in the 2012 Summer Games. Another Chinese Trampolinist, He Wenna, who won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, will also be present in Odense. Canada’s defending Olympic Champion, Rosannagh MacLennan, will also make an appearance in the World Championships.

Aside from the three Olympic Champions, some other remarkable gymnasts will also show up in Odense Championships. Another Canadian gymnast, 2003 World champion Karen Cockburn, who hasn’t own any individual World titles since but holds three Olympic medals (bronze in 2000 Olympics and silvers in 2004 and 2008 Summer Games). Ekaterina Khilko, 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, Jason Burnett and Dmitry Ushakov, silver medallists in 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games respectively will also compete in Odense.

China, an enduring dynasty

No other team in Odense appears to be as supercharged as China, which will showcase five individual World Champions and two Olympic gold medallists. In the men’s competition, 2012 Olympic gold medallist Dong Dog and defending World champion Tu Xiao will try to hold off the charge of younger compatriots Gao Lei and Xiao Jinyu for the two spots available per country in the medal round. Making it to the finals would prove that they are still the best Chinese trampolinist of all time, but Gao was proved to be a tough opponent in the past two seasons, after beating both his rivals multiple times in World Cup competition.

All of the four Chinese Trampoline gymnasts, (Li Dan, He Wenna, and Liu Lingling) proved to have what it takes to win the World Title, having already won the World titles in 2010, 2011 and 2014 Championships respectively. On the other hand, Zhong Xingping, was a 2013 World runner up.

The age-proof veterans

Four veteran Trampoline gymnasts, Nikolai Kazak(38), Karen Cockburn(35), Ekaterina Khilko(33), and Tatsia Piatrenia(34), proves that age is just a number, and they are set to compete against younger gymnasts in Odense. Still at their peak performance, each of these veterans could probably contend against the world’s top trampolinist. Canadian gymnast Cockburn, the gymnast who won the most Olympic medals in the Trampoline gymnastics history, is aspiring to make her fifth Olympic appearance in Rio next summer, just like Uzbekistan’s Khilko, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist.

Tatsiana Piatrenia, a Belarusian gymnast, who won the gold medal in Synchro Trampoline competition in 2003 proved that she still has what it takes after winning the Loulé World Cup, the finale of the 2015 FIG World Cup series, last month in Portugal. With Synchro partner Uladzislau Hancharou, Kazak became the silver medalist in 2014, 20 years after his World Championships Debut.

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Karen Cockburn Aims to Secure Another Olympic Berth

Canadian trampoline gymnast Karen Cockburn proves that age is just a number.

At the 2015 Pan American Games held at the Toronto Coliseum last July, the 34-year-old trampoline gymnast managed to finish in first place through the first two qualifying routine  of the women’s trampoline competition.

Cockburn, a three-time Olympic medallist, finished with a total score of 97.465 points after posting a score 51.870 in the first routine and 45.595 in her second.

26-year old reigning World Trampoline Champion, Olympic and Pan Am Games champion Rossanagh MacLennan, finished with 6^th place after getting a score of 47.555 in her 1^st routine and 22.710 for the second one, to post a total score of 70.265.

"It's awesome. I have my family and my daughter here watching. For the first time she's watching me compete at an event like this, so it's special, gives you that extra energy and support." She said.

21-year-old Brazilian gymnast Camilla Lopes Gomes finished second after garnering a score of 95.765.

Still recovering from a broken left ankle obtained during her training in preparation for the 2014 World Trampoline Championships in Daytona last November, Karen Cockburn attributed her success to the motivation she got from the crowd, which included her friends and her “immediate family” members – her spouse, former Olympic medallist Mathieu Turgeon, and also her one-year-old daughter, Emilie.

"It's awesome. I have my family and my daughter here watching,” Cockburn said after the competition’s first two qualifying routines “For the first time she's watching me compete at an event like this, so it's special, gives you that extra energy and support."

Additionally, Cockburn also pointed out that her quick recovery and training preparation for the Pan American Games has gone off pretty well.

Should the 34-year-old trampoline gymnast continue to perform very well at the upcoming World Championships in Odense on November, we cannot see any reason on why she won’t compete at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics next year.

Canada can earn two Olympic places in the 2016 Women’s trampoline Olympics should they get two top-eight places at the World Championships.

“I'm coming off injury so if I continue to feel better and my training goes well, hopefully we'll earn some Olympic spots at the World Championships this fall, and if so I'll move forward to next year and definitely try for that,” Cockburn said.

Cockburn also has some unfinished business to deal with after she was pulled out from the 2011 Pan Am Games prior to the final in Mexico because of an illness.

On the other hand, in the men’s trampoline event, Jason Burnett, a 28-year old gymnast from Nobleton finished with fourth place with a total score of 101.560.

Jason Burnett was .295 points behind Columbian gymnast Recalde Hernandez, who ended up in the third place and gaining a spot on the medal podium.

Canadian trampoline gymnast, Keegan Soehn, acquired the first place with his score of 103.870.

Recovering from an ACL injury, Jason Burnett stated he is gradually rounding into form that aided him to secure a gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Taking that into consideration, Burnett stated that he plans gradually steer right back into action with a moderate level of difficulty

 “I’m only 10 months post ACL surgery, so I'm taking some time to come back from that. So I'm fairly strong, just not 100 per cent yet,” he said.

He also stated that he is looking forward to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics in order to represent Canada.

“We'll have our Olympic qualifier in November at the world championships over in Denmark. With any luck I can place within the top eight there to qualify Canada for the Olympic Games in Rio and then I'll compete for the spot internally back home."

The 2016 Summer Olympics will be held at Rio de Janerio, Brazil starting on August 5, 2015.

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